Correction: This story originally had the incorrect name of the psychologist who spoke to the team.

Cody Zeller has lived up to the preseason hype. Trevor Mbakwe hasn’t.

The Big Ten’s top two post players entering the season will be featured when the Gophers (18-9, 6-8) play host to No. 1 Indiana (24-3, 12-2) at Williams Arena on Tuesday, Feb. 26.

Mbakwe, the University of Minnesota’s sixth-year senior, leads the Big Ten in rebounding over Indiana’s Zeller (8.5 to 8.1). But the Hoosiers’ 7-foot sophomore is a far better scorer than Mbakwe (16.6 to 9.5).

The Gophers, who have lost eight of their past 11 games, haven’t been able to rely enough on Mbakwe’s offense this year — and it has little to do with last year’s knee injury or this year’s sore wrist.

His inside game just lacks development.

“I told the guy, he should work with me,” former Gophers and NBA player Ben Coleman said. “Right now it looks like he doesn’t have a lot of confidence in his post moves. When that happens, you rely on one move that you’re strongest at, as opposed to playing off reaction and what the defense gives you.”

Mbakwe tied his season low with four points in 29 minutes in a 71-45 loss Wednesday at Ohio State. It was the sixth time in the past eight games that Mbakwe scored in single digits. He also had four of the team’s 24 turnovers, and has 11 turnovers in the last three games.

This seems far from the dominant season that was expected from Mbakwe.

“I see it differently,” said Indiana coach Tom Crean, who coached Mbakwe at Marquette as a freshman in 2007-08. “You can’t just judge a guy on his numbers, on his points, on his free-throw attempts. You’ve got to look at the impact that he’s playing with. He’s playing tremendous defense; he’s causing havoc in the lane; he’s an excellent pick-and-roll defender.”

But Mbakwe and sophomores Mo Walker and Elliott Eliason are the most recent post players who have struggled to develop offensively under Gophers coach Tubby Smith. Ralph Sampson III and Colton Iverson also failed to become dominant inside players at Minnesota, although Iverson, who transferred after his junior year, is starring at Colorado State this season.

Mbakwe is a lot tougher physically than Sampson and more athletic than Iverson. He also spent countless hours last year with trainers to recover from knee surgery. But it doesn’t appear Mbakwe has worked enough on adding post skills since he joined the Gophers, Coleman said.

Minnesota used to be known as “Big man U” under former coach Jim Dutcher during the late 1970s and 1980s, which included a 1982 Big Ten title. Eight post players who played for Dutcher went to the NBA, including Coleman, who was a second-round draft pick by the Chicago Bulls in 1986 after transferring to Maryland.

Coleman thinks Mbakwe could have an NBA future, like Zeller.

“He’s got that warrior mentality; he just needs extra guidance,” Coleman said. “From what I’m seeing, they’re not getting the proper instruction in the offseason or in their spare time. If you look at all the premier players who move up each level, they all have someone they go to help them develop their skills.”

Smith said his players need to take some responsibility to become great by working on their own time.

“Are you going to be a first-round draft pick? That’s another element there,” Smith said. “There are a lot of great players out there, so you have to continue to improve. I think everybody has improved their stats that we’ve had over the years and who stayed here. But it’s to each individual player. Where do you take your game? How committed are you in the offseason? How committed are you in-season to lift every opportunity you have? To get in the gym every time there’s an opportunity to be in the gym? Are you doing those things?”

Briefly

Smith said Monday that senior forward Rodney Williams, who has gone scoreless in his last two games because of a left shoulder injury, will start against Indiana after looking “100 percent” better since playing just eight minutes at Ohio State. … Players said they met over the weekend with local sports psychologist Dr. Justin Anderson, who works with the Minnesota Twins and Gophers football team.

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